On Thursday evening, plans for today's second round were still unclear.
The PGA Tour and 84 Lumber Classic officials huddled several times during the day, planning the what-ifs, depending on what the remnants of Hurricane Isabel do to Mystic Rock.
"We're all aware that if we lose tomorrow (Friday), there is going to be a 36-hole day, probably on Sunday, or if we need to, we'll finish on Monday," said Grant Waite. "As players on the PGA Tour, we really think that 72 holes is the best way to determine it. And if we have to play 36 holes on Sunday, that's what we'll do. So I'm already mentally thinking about that.
"This year has been terrible. I don't think we have had a tournament -- hardly any tournament where we haven't had a delay of some kind. It's just been an unusual and difficult year. And let's put it this way, at Reno, we got a rain delay, and it only rains there once every 10 years."
Nice hat
Scott McCarron put on a bit of a show for those gathered behind the first tee yesterday.
Moments before his 12:45 p.m. tee time with Rocco Mediate and Dan Forsman, McCarron turned to the fans and said, "I just want everyone to know that Chris DiMarco told me that if I would wear this hat on my first tee shot, he'd give me $500, and I'm going to donate that money to Children's Hospital. But we have to have big applause regardless of where the ball goes, OK?"
He held up a black, plastic miniature cowboy hat that would fit a child rather nicely at a birthday party. True to his word, when it was his turn to hit, he put the hat on, took a couple practice swings, adjusted the hat and then ripped a drive down the middle of the fairway.
The hat flew off, but the crowd responded and he returned the hat to the starter's tent.
Unfortunately, the nice start didn't help all that much with his day. He finished at 1-over-par 73.
Not a bad 75
John Daly's scorecard says he shot a 75 in the first round of the 84 Lumber Classic. Nothing to jump up and down about, except when you consider he had a 9 on the par-4 14th.
The quintuple bogey on the 461-yard hole included a pair of penalty strokes and led to a back nine of 42 for Daly, who is the spokesman for 84 Lumber on the PGA Tour.
Daly had five birdies, an eagle, three bogeys in addition to the quintuple bogey.
Evacuations
The PGA Tour was proactive concerning Hurricane Isabel yesterday. It advised players to take whatever personal items they had out of the "players facility", a tent near the polo field at Nemacolin Woodlands and move them into a ballroom in one of the hotels on the property.
Same thing went for the caddies, who were told they'd be able to park their cars on the landing strip near the hotel and get meals in another ballroom.
Late yesterday afternoon, PGA Tour media officials announced that, if necessary, a temporary media facility would be housed in the John Daly Learning Center, near the old clubhouse.
All of those moves were made because of concerns that the high winds predicted for last night and today would not be good for the tents in which the facilities are located.
Not that easy
Brent Schwarzrock, one of the young players on the PGA Tour struggling to make it as a professional golfer (he's currently 195th on the money list), fired a 66 in the opening round but defended the Pete Dye-designed Mystic Rock layout after it was torn up by the field.
"I think it's a better test than most courses," he said. "Especially the greens can be pretty severe in some areas. I would think overall, it won't be a 4-under cut or anything."
Whatta card
Waite had one par on his scorecard on the back nine at Mystic Rock yesterday, which was his first nine. That's unusual, for sure, but even more so was the fact that he had a 32 on that nine holes.
He birdied four of the first five holes, bogeyed the next one and then birdied two of the last three. That added up to six birdies, two bogeys and a par.
"When I parred my eighth hole, I thought, this is the first par I've had," Waite said. "I thought if I keep making birdies, I'll be fine."
And he was, shooting a 66.
Numbers
The field averaged 70.75 yesterday, nearly two shots better than par. The 461-yard, par-4 15th was the most difficult hole, averaging 4.146 strokes. The easiest hole was the 526-yard, par-5 16th, averaging 4.306. ... Five players hit all 14 fairways yesterday. Tommy Armour III was the only player to hit all 18 greens.
